Federal officials were conducting a terrorism-related investigation Thursday, but declined to release further details, including if any arrests were made. Local television was reporting that the FBI was raiding a warehouse. "There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment. A search warrant and other documents were sealed, Kolko said. South Florida has been linked to several terrorism investigations in the past. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta. Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the country, is charged in Miami with being part of a North American terror support cell to al-Qaeda and other violent Islamic extremist organizations. He has been in federal custody since 2002 and is scheduled for trial in September. ... http://www.usatoday.com

By night, the troops brace for Taliban mortar attacks. By day, they carry heavy gear and weapons over rocky ledges in scorching heat, stopping only to rehydrate, sometimes with the help of intravenous drips.Life with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment in southern Afghanistan is a battle not only against a stealthy and stubborn enemy but against some of the earth’s harshest natural elements.“I am hungry, thirsty and dirty. Welcome to my world,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gonzalo Lassally, 31, of Deltona, Fla. Lassally is among the scores of U.S. soldiers dug into a sun-bleached peak as part of Operation Mountain Thrust. It is the largest offensive against the Taliban since the government of that radical Islamic group was ousted nearly five years ago....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13490210/

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen a close former colleague to become his new Vatican secretary of state. Italian cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 71, will replace fellow Italian Angelo Sodano as the Pope's number two. Cardinal Bertone, currently archbishop of Genoa, has long been a trusted collaborator of Benedict. They used to work in the same Vatican department. It is the second senior appointment made by the Pope from among his closest former departmental colleagues. Last year, the Pope chose an American cardinal, William Levada, to take over his own former Vatican job. The Vatican secretary of state is the Pope's official deputy, but has no powers to make declarations relating to faith and dogma - he is simply the Vatican's senior administrator. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5106282.stm

The United States has asked the Islamic group that controls the Somali capital to hand over three men accused of links to the 1998 US embassy bombings. Senior US diplomat Jendayi Frazer said the alleged "terrorists" were from the Comoros Islands, Kenya and Sudan. Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts has repeatedly denied accusations that it is harbouring foreign Islamic fighters. The call comes as the Islamic courts are holding talks with Somalia's interim government in Sudan. Correspondents say the request is a u-turn for the United States, which is widely believed to have backed an alliance of warlords, which was defeated by the Islamic courts in Mogadishu earlier this month. Ms Frazer, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said there were many "foreign terrorists" in Somalia but the three most wanted by the US were: ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5104798.stm

The southern part of the San Andreas fault is overdue for a large earthquake, according to a study in the journal Nature. This end of the fault has not experienced a major rupture for at least 250 years and is now primed for a release of the built-up tension. The study by geophysicist Yuri Fialko provides the most precise measurements yet of this accumulated stress. But scientists cannot predict when another quake is likely to strike. The San Andreas fault runs for roughly 1287km (800 miles) through western and southern California in the US. It marks the meeting point of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. The southern segment begins near the Salton Sea and runs northward before bending to the west where it meets the San Bernardino Mountains. Los Angeles is the biggest city located near this part of the fault. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5105478.stm

The world's top scientists have joined forces to call for "evidence-based" teaching of evolution in schools. A statement signed by 67 national science academies says evidence on the origins of life is being "concealed, denied, or confused" in some classes. It lists key facts on evolution that "scientific evidence has never contradicted". These include the formation of Earth 4.5 billion years ago, and the onset of life at least 2.5 billion years ago. "We know of schools in various parts of the world where the children are told that the Earth is about 8,000 years old," said Yves Quere, co-chair of the Inter Academy Panel on International Issues, the global network of science academies. "So in this statement we say you cannot teach this to children, it is wrong."...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5098608.stm